Food expert joins Cardiff University

Geoff Tansey, Chair of the Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty and a member of The Food Ethics Council joins the School of Geography and Planning as Honorary Research Fellow.

Geoff chaired the independent Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty, a year-long Commission that set out how a fairer food system can be built that works better for people on low incomes.  He is is a member of The Food Ethics Council, a charity that provides independent advice on the ethics of food and farming. The Council aims to create a food system that is fair and healthy for people, animals and the environment. His books include The Food System: a guide, with Tony Worsley and co-editorship of The future control of food - A guide to international negotiations and rules on intellectual property, biodiversity and food security.

Speaking about his appointment Geoff Said: “I’m delighted to be honoured with this appointment and look forward to working with colleagues at Cardiff. I hope to be able to help in making links with other institutions and organisations I’m connected with and which all have an interest in making our food systems fair, sustainable and healthy.”

Professor Paul Milbourne, Head of the School of Geography and Planning said: “I am really pleased that Geoff Tansey is joining the School as an Honorary Research Fellow. Geoff has been an active and influential campaigner on food issues over a number of years, with his work focused on how we can develop a fairer, more sustainable and healthier food system. His recent work on food and poverty on behalf of the Fabian Commission has been extremely valuable in raising the political and public profile the food justice in the UK.  Given the significance of food justice to research and teaching on food within the School, it is clear that Geoff will be able to make a valuable contribution to our food research centre and food master’s degree course.”

Geoff has degrees in soil science and history and social studies of science.  In the mid-1970s, he helped found and edit the journal Food Policy, has worked as a consultant with a range of organisations including DFID, FAO, ISNAR, Quaker UN Office Geneva, and UNCTAD, and on various agricultural development projects in Turkey, Mongolia, Albania and Kazakstan. In June 2005, he received one of six Joseph Rowntree ‘Visionaries for a Just and Peaceful World’ Awards and, in 2008, he won the Derek Cooper Award for best food campaigner/educator, at the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards. In 2009, The Future Control of Food won the Guild of Food Writers Derek Cooper Award.

Geoff curates the online, open access Food Systems Academy, an educational resource designed to help transform our food systems. He runs a very active website and blog designed to share his work, find out more on his website.